Cardinal
by al pal 18
Summary: A girl, like us, is transported to another dimension where superheroes actually exist and aren't just comic book characters. She wakes up in Gotham and goes to Batman and Robin for help. Being a Batman and Robin fan, she knows everthing about them already. She joins the Batfamily and becomes none other than, Cardinal! I'm kin of bad at summeries just read! :P K for now.
1. Chapter 1

**Yay another new story. This is actually my first original hero character so I hope it goes well. I won't reveal his/her name right now. I shall keep you in suspense for half the chapter :P Anyway, I'm doing this whole changing demensions thing but I honestly don't know if it'll work. For clearence, my character is from our dimension where we have comic books and most importantly FANFICTION! The character is obbsessed with Batman and Robin and especially Young Justice just like me and probably some of you. Just pretend it makes sense. Read away mah friends!**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN BATMAN OR YOUNG JUSTICE. I do own Adonis City, Grant Gondy, and my character though. I actually googled stuff to make sure it didn't already exist...**

* * *

I walked quickly along the path in the park. It was windy out and the clouds were dark, almost ominous. There was a severe thunderstorm warning and I was rushing home before the rain started. I had unfortunately been at the library all the way on the opposite side of Adonis City from my house. My phone buzzed and I stopped to look at it.

_Mom: Where are you?_

I hastily replied before I resumed my quick pace.

_Me: On my way home. Be there in 15._

About 5 blocks later I heard a maniacal sounding laughter. I looked towards the direction of my house, forward, and then to the direction that the noise came from, my right side then back to my house. My curiosity was growing but the thunder and lightning overhead battled my want to find out who made the noise. Finally, after a fierce war, my curiosity took over and I followed the sound.

I silently peered through an old, dirty window. A man with gray hair and an old looking suit was there. In a mirror's reflection I could see his face and recognized him as Grant Gondy, the biggest mobster in town. He was on a computer and was looking at some blueprints of an office building nearby. I noticed that there were…bombs? They were placed around the building on the blueprints.

My Mom said she was planning for us to move soon, too much crime here, my mom said. We had only been here for a few months but being in this city for even a week is enough to tell you it isn't safe here. She was definitely right. This guy looked like he was planning to blow up the whole building.

I slowly moved my hand towards my phone in my backpack. Where was that stupid thing? I located it at the bottom of my backpack and I had to give it a large pull to get it out from under my textbook. I pulled too hard though because the textbook tipped out of the backpack and hit the ground before I could get it. NO NO NO! Grant turned around and had a gun pointed in my direction before I could even say a word. The message was so clear, that I didn't dare move.

"What did you see?" He demanded. His voice was deep, hoarse, and commanding. All things that you never want to see in someone who is holding a gun that is pointed towards your face.

"Nothing! I don't know what you're talking about!" The words were definitely shaky. I could tell without even hearing my voice. I hoped that he wouldn't notice though. I was still on the sidewalk so I may be able to pass off the story that I merely dropped something.

"You're lying" Oh crap. I made a break for it, the mob boss had left his house and was following me in close pursuit. I ran blindly down the street taking turns left and right. I ran through park and I was just starting to think that I would lose him when I just barely tripped on the foot of a bench.

In a flash the man was there and had his foot pressing hard on my chest. He took something from his coat that looked almost like a pen and pointed it at me. He pressed a button and it began to light up, a purple looking light. I struggled under his weight but it was too heavy. "Do you know what this is?" He asked evilly. I shook my head, probably best to just go with it. "Transports you to another dimension, I really need a test subject." The light just kept growing and growing until a ball of light, or energy, detached from the pen and shot towards my face. Everything went black, fast.

* * *

I woke up and sat up. I was still in a park but it was very different. The nearby buildings looked gloomy and dark. In Adonis City It was also gloomy but it looks like a rainbow compared to this place. I was dry so it must have not rained. It was pretty chilly out though so I pulled my jacket out of my backpack and pulled it on.

I remembered what that guy had said, another dimension. I doubt what he said is true but I don't want to take any chances. I saw an internet café nearby and stood to walk over to it, trying to look casual. Although I think I may look a little suspicious to some people. I looked at the newspapers, even though it probably wouldn't help me tell if I was in another dimension or not. Well, at least until I saw the title of the paper.

_Gotham City Press_

That's wrong; this isn't Gotham City, that doesn't even exist. Is this some fan-based newspaper or something? I looked across the street and saw a Laundromat with Gotham in its name. Maybe it's just a coincidence. There could be another city with the same name but I doubt it. DC would have had to deal with lawyers and all that to use the name. What if I was in a dimension where superheroes actually existed? I shook my head and started down the street. That's just ridiculous.

The idea of going to another dimension is outrageous. I can't let that guy get to me. He probably just knocked me out and then had some of his followers drive or ship me to some distant city. I pulled my phone out to use my map app but I froze when I realized I had no signal here. Another lady walked past me while talking on her phone… I sighed and put my phone back into my pocket. I see so many creeps in Adonis City on a daily basis; it is starting to make me be afraid some crazy person will rub off on me.

The ground shook and a large explosion could be heard a few blocks away to the north. I, again, fought with my curiosity. I heard sirens coming from somewhere far behind me and I knew it was the police responding. If anyone could help me it would be them so I took off towards the red glow in the distance and the smoke which was barely visible this late at night. I could intercept the cops there.

I soon arrived at some docks, one of the warehouses on fire. I heard yells coming from the warehouse next to it so I headed towards that one. Pressing my back to the wall I crept to the large opening and peered around the corner. There were bins and bins full of guns of all sorts. I didn't know really any guns but I could pick out some barrels, pistols, and machine guns in the bins.

Suddenly, someone snatched my arm roughly. I screamed but my mouth was quickly covered by a large gloved hand. I look up and saw a really tall and buff man. He had a gun slung around his shoulder too. Great, just what I needed. I struggled but the guy only pulled my arm into a painful position behind my back. I gave a muffled cry and held back some tears, he had definitely just dislocated my shoulder. Another man came running out from the warehouse and took in the scene before him. He started talking to the other man in a foreign language. I think they were discussing what to do with me. I had to get out of here. My eyes darted left and right, looking for some form of escape. The two men finished their argument and the one across from me pulled out a gun.

Just then a flash of red and black landed right in between me and the second man who had come out. Was that?- No it can't even be possible. I think I'm just dreaming or hallucinating. I'm sure I'll wake up and be in my own bed in my small home on 6th Avenue.

It only took Robin a couple of seconds to knock the first guy out before swirling around to throw some batarangs at the thug holding me. One of the batarangs hit the gun and knocked it out of his hand while another hit him in the back of the knee. His leg gave out and he started to fall but Robin met him with a punch to the face and knocked the man out. As soon as both were lying on the ground, still as stones, he turned to me.

"You ok?" He asked. I gave a small nod and he leaned down to rapidly handcuff the thugs.

"Dislocated shoulder, I think. But it's ok." I replied. I wasn't going to look weak in front of Robin. If this was Robin. How should I know? I'm so confused. Is this a prank? Or a dream? Or could I really have been transported to another dimension where superheroes existed? I was so confused. I just want to scream from the frustration of it all.

The boy wonder, if he wasn't an imposter, frowned and looked at my arm. He then averted his gaze around, surveying our surroundings. He looked around the corner again and smiled.

"Batman took care of everything else so I've got a minute. Want me to help? I can fix your arm, I think I can. Or you can let the medics do it.

"I trust you," I said. Not an exact answer but it's enough for him. The longer I stood here the more the kid looked like Robin. I hadn't seen a fake costume quite like his before and it looked pretty real so I think I'm actually convinced that this is Robin and I really am in another dimension. I can't be sure.

"Trusting already? Awfully quick to trust me don't you think? Trusting people so quickly can make you let your guard down," he smirked. Batman emerged from the building and surveyed me. He glared at the two of us. I already felt really intimidated. Only the real Batman can do that. I think I'm sure that this is real now. Batman gave a slight nod to Robin and I before motioning us to follow him over to Commissioner Gordon who had just arrived. I didn't want the police anymore. I wanted the dynamic duo's help. To be honest, the police would probably think I just needed to be sent to an asylum if I told _them_ that I was from another dimension.

The medics had been checking me over and had been asking me questions about what I had seen when I noticed Robin heading towards the Batmobile which had been parked in front of the warehouse. "Well concealed Batman," I thought. I excused myself and ran over to intercept him.

"Robin, can I ask you something?" He cocked his eyebrows at me, obviously a bit surprised. He was probably expecting a request for an autograph or something but he still rarely got a reaction like this out of a witness I think. "I need help. I know I can trust you and Batman but no one else. I'm lost and there's no way for me to get home that I know of."

He gave a smirk and a cackle. I think I recognized that cackle… Now that I have a theory I was moved to another dimension I have to figure out exactly which. "I think you can ask Gordon about that. You don't need us for that."

"Listen, Dick, you don't understand. I'm from another dimension. Some creep sent me here somehow. I don't know how to get back." He stared at me incredulously and I figured it was because of the dimension thing but then I realized my mistake. I had accidentally called him by his civilian name… He reacted quickly and jumped on me, tackling me.

"Who are you?" he demanded. I was speechless, knocked out of breath from his reaction. I had NOT been expecting that. I had never imagined how much being called by his civilian name in costume by someone who wasn't batman made him react. I stuttered over my words but couldn't get anything audible out. By now Batman, or Bruce, had rushed over to us and pulled Dick off of me.

"What is going on here?" He demanded.

"I uh-" I hesitated. God, he was scary like this.

"She just called me "Dick"!" Robin said in a hushed whisper. He looked at me as if I were some sort of monster. He scoffed, "She thinks she's from another dimension."Batman gave me another bat-glare as he inspected me, almost as if he could see right through me.

"I swear it was an accident. Bruce I-" I cut off, I just did it again. I mentally face palmed. You are such an idiot. It was quiet for a long moment before Bruce did anything other than staring at me.

"Get in the car," Bruce said with gritted teeth.

"WHAT?"

* * *

I sat in a chair eating some of Alfred's cookies that he had baked. They were actually pretty good. People had hinted to Alfred being a good cook but I hadn't quite imagined cookies could ever taste this good! Bruce came over to me, cowl down. I think that both Bruce and Dick had accepted the fact that I knew who they were.

"Explain yourself. I checked your DNA on the Bat computer and there are no matches to anyone worldwide. Gordon told me that they didn't get any results either" Batman had taken a blood sample earlier and until now I hadn't quite understood why.

"I already said. I'm from another dimension somehow." I said for the umpteenth time. Alfred cocked his eyebrows but Bruce just ignored him and stared at me.

"How?"

"I don't know."

"How would you not know how you got here?"

"A mobster caught me spying on him and there was this weird purple light then I blacked out and woke up in a park. Look, why do you keep asking me the same questions 20 million times? Are you expecting another answer? My answers aren't going to change. I came to you because my guess would be that since you own Wayne Industries you're probably the only people who can help me and I'm pretty sure that the police would just think I was crazy."

A rapid beeping sounded from across the room and Batman's head snapped to the side to look at the screen. He cussed under his breath and nodded to Alfred. The Joker's face had popped up on a map and was flashing red.

"Show her to the guest room and we'll talk about this when I get back." Bruce, now Batman, pulled his cowl back over his head and jumped into the Batmobile. Alfred nodded and then turned to me.

"Come now, Miss, I shall show you to your room." I sighed and picked myself up. I was pretty worn out and my arm still hurt. I didn't want to complain. I'm quite the Batman-obsessed person so I know that this is nothing compared to what happens to the Dynamic Duo sometimes. Anyhow, we arrived in the largest bedroom I've ever seen! It had a desk, king bed, master bathroom, and two dressers. As well as a window seat where you have a perfect view of the garden. It was perfect for me. "I shall leave to rest now. Breakfast will be down the hall and to your right." With that, Alfred left me to explore the room. I didn't have any extra clothes so I just crawled straight into bed and was out like a light.

I smiled and felt lucky when I found the brush in my bathroom. Now I don't have to go downstairs as a bed head. I washed my face and then barely remembered the way to the kitchen but after a few minutes I finally found it. This mansion was huge.

"Hey," I sat down across from Dick.

"Uh, hi?" Dick replied in a surprised tone. His eyes flickered from me to Alfred a couple times before he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Master Bruce requested that she spend the night here and that we would deal with the situation today," Alfred said, answering Dick nonchalantly. Dick just shrugged and looked back to me.

"I never got your name, what is it?"

"Ally Apathy. Nice to meet you." I held my hand out in mock introduction.

"Yeah, you already know my name. And you knew Alfred and Bruce's too. How do you even know this stuff?" I hesitated. He'd think I was crazy if I told him the truth. He already probably thinks I'm crazy though.

"I think we're pretty much going to go with, 'I'm from another dimension'. Where I come from, you and Batman are comic book characters. Pretty popular but still comic book characters. I know some series amazingly well but some I might not have even heard of. Each series is pretty much a different dimension I think. Or at least a different point in time," I admitted, "So I pretty much already know the basics on you but not the specifics until I know which dimension I'm even in."

"I can help you narrow it down maybe." He offered. I gave a small mhm and proceeded to ask questions.

"How old are you?" That was more for time than anything but I'd still like to know.

"13"

"Same," I agreed. We were the same age then. "Is there a Justice League? If you know what that is?"

"Yeah." I smiled. Today might be my lucky day.

"Are you on a team with a bunch of other sidekicks?"

"We don't like to be sidekicks but yeah." I felt a sudden smile came on and he cocked his eyebrow questioningly.

"Young Justice. My favorite dimension. I know a lot about it. Well, up to a certain point. And by certain point I mean about 5 or 6 years from now." He gaped at me and I smirked, this was going to be easy to deal with. I knew almost everything I can know about this dimension. Plus, I've read a lot of fan fictions on it. I haven't ever read the comics though.

"So you mean to tell me that you know everything that has gone on or is going to go on for a whole span of 6 years?" He asked. I gave him a nod. In the back of my mind though, I'm not going to tell anyone anything. I know that I could mess up the whole timeline if I'm not careful.

"Yeah, whelming isn't it?" He seemed to perk up when I said whelmed and nodded.

"Yeah, really whelming." We both looked at each other and our smiles grew larger, then we both just cracked up.

"I see you two are getting along better." A voice interrupted. We both stopped our laughing quickly and I twisted around in my seat to look at Bruce who was standing in the doorway. After Dick had tackled me last night, he had seemed kind of grumpy and went upstairs as soon as we got to the Batcave. I thought Dick already hated me but now I think it was that he just didn't trust me. I think he does now. He also can probably tell I'm not lying.

"What do you think we should do?" He asked me.

"You're asking me? I know nothing." I honestly didn't think traveling through dimensions was possible until yesterday afternoon.

"Based on your conversation I heard while I was in the other room you know a lot. Also if you know nothing why did you come to us?" He questioned. He really was just as grumpy as the comics made him look. There had been a bit of fluff in one episode and fanfictions had always often shown a daddy bats trait but the actual television show when I had seen it showed a harsh and serious Batman. Again, I never read the comics. He did have a point though.

"I know you guys have access to some of the best technology possible, some of it hasn't even been near invented in my dimension. Like holographic computers for example. I didn't even think that was possible." I answered. There, that should hopefully be enough to satisfy the dark knight.

"I'll go talk to the league. You stay here." Dick got up to follow him but he added, "Both of you" and he flopped back down onto his chair.

"Miss Ally, Master Richard, I hope you plan to finish your food. We aren't leaving until your plates are spotless." I started to open my mouth but Alfred answered my question before I could even ask, "Well, you cannot wear that outfit every single day."

* * *

"Bat-Hound, Come back!" I chased the mischievous dog through the manor, yelling at him to give my new iphone back. I had just only gotten it today. He ran into Bruce's office and stopped by the grandfather clock, which had sloppily been left ajar. Robin, I would guess. He waited until I was almost on him before he easily dodged and ran off down the steps.

Unfortunately, dogs go like bullets down steps so by the time I got to the bottom of the steps the naughty dog was sitting there, phone in his mouth, waiting impatiently. He ran to the computer with me following and I gasped at the screen. Alfred was looking at an SOS sent by Batman not more than 5 minutes ago.

_Ambushed at 24__th__ Street, 2__nd__ Avenue. Poison Ivy. SOS_

The butler noticed me and quickly closed the message, "Don't worry Miss Ally, that was an old message." I gave him a look that said 'seriously, you're going to try that?'. He seemed to read my mind and stumbled on his words. "Don't you dare get any ideas young lady. If anything happens to you, I am to blame and you will not go after them and try to help."

"I hear you," I glared at him, "What are you going to do then?" He looked at the screen then back at me.

"I have no plan. Master Bruce and Master Richard are very capable of getting themselves out of any situation," he said. He tried to fake confidence but it was quite pitiful and I think he was actually panicking.

"And what if this isn't a false alarm? You're going to just let them die?" I demanded, my anger rising. He shouldn't be like this. He's being way too cocky. I turned on my heel and stormed upstairs. I remembered that Robin had an extra suit under his bed; he had mentioned it earlier when he was showing me around. I doubted that Alfred knew where I was going and I heard him trailing behind me but he went into the kitchen, so I broke into a run for Dick's room. I ran into his room and crawled under his bed. I found a full Robin suit plus an extra black bodysuit. Perfect.

I rode on the motorcycle I had taken from the Batcave and parked it two blocks away from the said location. There were vines everywhere surrounding a greenhouse. Definitely Poison Ivy's style. I reached for the belt I had taken from Robin's costume and found the grapple hook. I had very quickly thrown together a suit of my own. It was mainly black with red details. A red bird shaped logo and red gloves. A domino mask, also taken from Robin's costume, seemed to fit my face perfectly as it protected my identity as it covered my dark brown eyes. I wasn't much bigger than Robin so this made the costume fit fairly easily. Last, but not least, my hair was in a long chocolate brown braid down my back that reached down to my waist.

I aimed for the roof of the building across the street and was surprised when it landed perfectly. I normally had horrible aim. The grapple pulled me easily to the roof and it didn't take much effort to swing myself up onto the roof. I was, after all, the lead cheerleader on my team at school. I wasn't quite the acrobat that Robin was but was still pretty light and flexible. I found a pair of binoculars and zoomed in on the scene in front of me. Ivy was sitting in the middle of the warehouse on a large pink flower and Batman and Robin were hanging upside-down behind her. I noticed a door behind the two vigilantes. I could try to enter there and sneak over to them. I could free them then let them take care of the rest. I doubt I could even take down a couple thugs without training. The only training in combat that I've ever had was archery at camp and then watching all sorts of action movies all the time. Good thing Ivy doesn't use thugs.

Ivy seemed to be waiting on something but I'm not quite sure what. She couldn't know about me so I ignored this. I snuck around to the back side of the warehouse and silently snuck through the door. Batman didn't notice me but Robin, who was closer had to crane his neck to see me. Despite the mask, his facial features looked confused not shocked so I don't think he recognized me. That is, until he saw me reach for his belt which was wrapped around my waist. His masked eyes widened and he shook his head frantically trying to tell me to leave. I put a finger to my lips, trying to tell him not to thrash around or he could bring attention to me. Too late. Poison Ivy started to stand up and I dove behind a bush to avoid being seen.

"Stop squirming, will you?" She scolded. On the bright side, she hadn't noticed me. On the dark side I could see the vines around the Boy Wonder tighten and his face turned red. I felt sorry for him. At least she wasn't using her plant hormones on Batman against him. I needed a way to get closer. I know there was a pocket knife in my utility belt but I can't throw it, I might miss and then, well, I don't want to think about that. I reached for another compartment and pulled out and explosive birdarang. When Ivy wasn't looking I threw it to the opposite end of the warehouse. It was surprisingly easy, just like throwing a tiny Frisbee.

As I had hoped she looked at Batman and Robin, to check that they were still in bonds, and then confusedly went over towards the explosion to find the cause. I ran over to them and Batman gave me a half-shocked and half-scolding a look. I was saving his life probably so I don't think that deserves a scolding but there's no time to think about that right now. I began to saw away at the thick vines wrapped all around Batman. His large body hopefully concealing me. His eyes flickered to the left of me as a warning and I barely dodged the vine than came at me, jumping out of the way quickly.

"Who's this? Birdie Girl?" Ivy asked, "Well, I'll give her a floral welcome." She said sarcastically and threw more vines at me from the right which, again, I barely dodged.

"It's Cardinal." I corrected. I dodged more and more vines and then she started to slow them down.

"This is boring!" She complained playfully. Her plants brought Batman closer and she blew some pink powder into his face and he coughed before she released him. Oh no, now I'm screwed. "Kill her." I practically ran into the brush, hoping I could hide from him. Cowardly, but who isn't afraid of the dark knight? Even Robin is afraid of him sometimes. A rogue Batman has got to be dangerous. I climbed a tree and paused about 20 feet off the ground, suddenly aware of how high up I was. Batman arrived at the bottom and looked up at me, it only took one strong punch to the tree and since I was at the top the tree swayed. The branch I was holding snapped and I started to plummet to the ground. I barely managed to pull it together and grab a branch before I got too close to him. I swung on it to the next tree, starting a path of hopping from tree to tree as fast as I could. Eventually I landed on a bad branch and it broke, causing me to hit the ground. Batman was still a couple dozen feet away so I picked myself up and found myself dodging more vines at the same time.

"A- I mean Cardinal! Turn on the sp-" Robin tried to tell me something but Ivy stopped him quickly. She used a vine to cover his mouth and nose and then threw him into the wall. By the time he hit the ground, he was out cold. I wanted to go make sure he was ok but I don't even know if I'm ok. Sp, Sp I racked my brain. What could he have been trying to tell me to turn on? It took me another couple seconds before it hit me. Sprinkler System! Water stops the hormones. I reached for my belt and stopped to aim for the ceiling when I felt a big force crash into me and the batarangs almost exploded when I hit the ground but I was lucky enough to hit the deactivate button when I did.

I hopped to my feet to move out of the way of Ivy's plants but I had barely stood up when a large, gloved hand grabbed me around the neck and pushed me against a tree. Batman squeezed my neck hard and I couldn't even get a small breath down. I clawed at his hand with my much smaller ones but he his only tightened. In a last hope, I threw the batarangs in my hand randomly and it just barely hit the ceiling in time. The water began to pour down and Batman's grip loosened until I could rip It away from my neck, falling to the ground as I sucked in the air. I couldn't stop now. Batman looked confused as if he'd only just woken up. Was Robin up yet? I could really use him right now.

More vines began to grow. Thicker this time. I was still trying to catch up on air when one wrapped around my ankle and lifted me up into the air upside down. I freaked out and tried to reach for my belt again but another vine caught my hands and blocked it. Yet another caught my neck and again, my oxygen was cut off. The pressure around my neck suddenly loosened and then a batarang flew across my vision and cut the vines holding my wrists and my ankle. I was caught by a pair of red arms and smiled.

"About time Rob," I rasped out. He put me down and we ran for cover in the brush since Batman had gotten his act together and was fighting Poison Ivy.

"You ok?" He asked.

"A little out of breath but yeah. You?" I looked at his arm. It had a large thorn in it. I frowned and he somehow seemed to just notice it. He quickly pulled it out and gave me a small nod.

"I have to go help him. Stay here. I'm serious. Don't move unless you have to," Robin ordered. I didn't like it but I probably didn't have a chance against that madwoman so I agreed and he ran off. Within minutes they had taken Ivy down and Robin gave me the all-clear.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" Batman roared.

"Sorry for saving your life," I apologized sarcastically.

"What if she had killed you? What if I had killed you? Where did you even get that suit?" He demanded.

"A. I made the suit and B. I'm not dead. C. I just helped you," Batman really was overprotective.

"Batman, calm down, she did good. She saved our butts and she did better than we did. She doesn't even have any experience," Robin pointed out in an attempt to quiet Batman down.

"I have to go talk to Gordon," Batman said angrily and then stormed away.

"Is he always like that?" I asked.

"Pretty Much" Robin replied, "So…Cardinal? How'd you come up with that?"

"A summer camp I used to go to. A cardinal is the mascot. I figured it went with this whole bird thing." I laughed. Robin frowned and look at the ground, "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, you just did better than me and it's only your first time. I got beat by a newbie!" He laughed. I stuck out my tongue and laughed myself.

"Just one problem." I said slowly. "Now I have to deal with Alfred!"

Robin cocked his eyebrow and gave another smirk, "Alfred? You're dead meat!

* * *

**I'm actually planning to draw out a hero suit for Ally later and I'll scan it so I can make it a cover for this story. Also, just a fun fact, Ally is going to very much resemble me alot. For one thing my nickname is Ally..She'll probably have most of the same hobbies as me as well. I don't cheerlead and I'm not flexible though. Please Review! The more reviews, follows, and favorites I get the faster I'll update. Until then fellow YJ fans.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow I can't draw! Oh well, I'm going on devianart later to just ask someone to draw up Cardinal for me. I'm going on a writing spree this week since I'm on vacation so you may see another chapter later this week. Review plz!**

* * *

"Just ignore them and keep walking," Dick whispered to me under his breath. Since it was Monday, Alfred had insisted that they enroll me at Gotham Academy and Bruce had agreed to the plan. It looked like I would be stuck here a while so I still need to keep up with school. Like we had expected, it didn't take the press long to realize that Bruce had "adopted" another kid so there were reporters following us around everywhere.

"How do you like Gotham?"

"How did you meet Bruce Wayne?"

"How are you adjusting to the death of your parents?" The press hammered me with questions and it took everything I had not to scream at them to shut up. We had talked to the Commissioner who, for some reason, knew our identities and he added me into the legal system. He also made files for my make-believe parents that said they died, in case anyone ever needed access to the file. Bruce still wouldn't let me be Cardinal so we didn't tell him about that whole event. By the time Gordon had arrived we had left the scene. Then we just told the press that my parents died in a car crash and Bruce saw it so he took me in out of guilt and understanding. It had actually worked out pretty well.

I sighed in relief as we walked through the school gates, leaving the press behind. They weren't allowed on campus, "Is it always like that?" I asked. In the few hours we had been at the mall with Alfred I had barely seen any reporters around the mall. It might be because Dick had been around for a while.

"Normally not that bad. It's kind of bad today just because you're here. It'll get better once the whole fact that you basically came from nowhere." I nodded and he left me at the front office before he walked off to class, "See you at lunch!"

* * *

I grabbed a tray of chicken, French fries, some napkins, and a soda before I sat down next to Dick at the table.

"How are your classes going?" he asked.

"Ok, I keep getting lost but I find them eventually. This place is huge!" I laughed at how stupid I was being. Usually, I never get lost when I go anywhere at all but I guess this is different. I was late to a bunch of classes already. I never got in trouble because I was new.

"Yeah. I got lost at first too. I actually- did you hear that?" A small little _boom _noise came from outside the cafeteria. It was probably just someone messing with us or banging their locker. I had a feeling it wasn't that though. Another one came, this time closer and attracting more attention. An explosion went off right by the cafeteria entrance and a bunch of men with big guns walked in. Being kids, of course, every student in the cafeteria went nuts and started freaking out.

"The school's under attack," Dick whispered to me hurriedly. I shot him a look that said 'No, really?' He ignored me and continued, "Stick close to me; I have a way to use martial arts because Bruce publically enrolled me in a class a few years ago. He claimed that he wanted me to be able to defend myself so that in the case someone tried to hold me for ransom I can defend myself without raising suspicion. I can't be too good, but decent. We might be a target because Bruce is so rich." The gang spread out across the room, firing shots into the ceiling to get kids to stop screaming and yelling.

"What do we do? Take them down?" I asked curiously.

"No, just act scared. This will be all over the news and Batman will be here before you know it," He replied calmly. Honestly, it kind of scares me that Dick seemed to be used to this…

"Everybody shut up!" The gang leader yelled over everybody else. The entire room silenced in a heartbeat, "We're grabbing the richest kids and leaving." Dick's face fell. I could read his look. Bruce was the richest man in Gotham City and if they moved us to a different location it would take longer for him to find us. We were so screwed right now. The gang leader came over to Dick and grabbed his arm roughly. However, instead of acting scared Dick jerked his arm back and tried to break free.

"Stop," The man ordered in a deep voice. He pointed his gun at Dick's face and looked to me, "New girl, huh? You won't last long in this city." He motioned for another person to grab me and I didn't have to act. I _was_ scared. The gathered about a dozen or so other kids and they ushered us out to an old white van in the parking lot, which looked bullet proof. They had guns so everybody was just going with it.

The van was barely getting out of the parking lot when we heard sirens. I spun around and saw several police cars. I smiled at the sight. We were being followed. Dick, however, looked distressed and frowned at the cars, his vision switching between the police cars and our captors. I don't know how but he anticipated what came next.

One of the captors threw something out the window and an explosion went on behind us. The police car went up in flames and two cops threw themselves out. Unfortunately, the wreckage blocked the rest of the cars and we lost them. Those poor cops were so innocent. I looked back to Dick, expecting to see him upset, but instead I saw his face being impassive.

We arrived at an old, abandoned building. It looked to be about two stories high. They forced inside and tied us all up. They made the ransom call to the police right in front of us. My jaw dropped when I heard the price they wanted. They wanted 3 million dollars per kid. As rich as some of these kids were, I don't think everyone in the room has parents who can afford it.

I cringed as the kid on the other side of Dick, who was against the wall next to me, started to cry. One of the gangsters came over and just slapped the kid with an order to shut up. How could they just hit an innocent kid like that?

"Leave him alone!" Dick piped up, "He wouldn't even be crying if it wasn't for you."

"Awfully cocky now, aren't we?" The guy asked. He pulled Dick up to him by his shirt and spoke close to his face, "We wouldn't want me to 'accidentally' pull this trigger would we?" He pushed the gun right over where Dick's heart was. Then the flashback came, everything flashing by, the kid next to me's crying ceased and I was back in my body two months ago.

_I was 10 years old and I was racing my sister down the street. Since she was three years older than me she was obviously winning but that didn't keep me from trying. I saw a foot come from nowhere and it tripped Teresa. She screamed and fell face first onto the sidewalk. Another man came out from behind me when I caught up and he grabbed me._

"_Give us your money and nobody will get hurt." Teresa was brave, and stubborn, so she shook her head and her hand tightened on her purse. The two muggers just looked at each other and one took out a gun while ripping the purse from her arms. She started to stand up but since she was already dizzy from hitting her head when she tripped he just shoved her back down._

_She stood up this time and charged at the man but he spun around and pointed his gun at her chest. She stopped and glared at him. It was my turn. I couldn't leave her in that position! I had to help but as I ran towards him he pulled the trigger._

_There was a deafening BANG and a scream coming from somewhere. I soon realized the scream was coming from me. My older sister, my rock since our Dad was killed, was now dead._

The flashback ended and I was back in modern time, staring at Dick and that evil man. I wasn't let this going to happen again. Not another person would die while I watched. A horrible "NO!" ripped through my throat and despite the fact my hands were tied I leapt up and sent a flying kick towards him. The gangster hit the ground hard. He lost his grip on Dick and by the time Dick had sat up he was knocked out. I heard sirens coming and looked at Dick, tears leaking from my eyes. He looked at me curiously and confusedly, trying to figure out what caused my reaction. I became aware of the other kids staring at me but ignored them.

I smiled in relief as a S.W.A.T. team burst through the doors, closely followed by Batman. My work was done for now.

* * *

I stared up at Batman in front of me and glared at him.

"No."

"But Bruce-

"I said no. You're not going to put yourself in danger like that again."

"You and Dick do stuff like that every night!" I argued with Bruce. He wasn't even going to give me a shot at being a hero after I saved Dick's butt against the people who held us for ransom earlier. He glared at me but I didn't respond except to glare back.

"It's different, we don't do it just…" He trailed off.

"Just because you want to? You and Dick fight because you want to stop people from getting hurt. You're both orphans, I know. I may not be an orphan but I'm pretty much an orphan. My dad died 4 years ago and my mom doesn't exist here. My sister is dead too. We don't even know if it's possible for me to get back to her. Criminals took me away from my family too!" It was true. Technically I am pretty much orphaned. He had to actually look at this from my point of view. Besides, I already made a costume...

"I said no! It's not as easy as it looks, you know that. If you make a mistake you could die," He repeated.

"I know."

"If you know that, then you know that you aren't going to be a vigilante," his voice gave a tone that said he was ending the argument."

"I'm tired of reading about heroes, I want to be one." Yes, I had to be annoying and get the last word in before I stormed out of the Batcave and slammed the door to my room.

**I hope you liked it! Please review, favorite,is d follow! Also, if anybody is extremely good at drawing and wants to try drawing Cardinal for me I can send you the references I used. Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**New update! (applause) This chapter doesn't have much action but it sets the stage for later parts in the story. The next two paragraphs are talking about my other stories so if you don't want to read it just go ahead and skip to the story.**

** If you read any of my other stories and/or are following them then you may have noticed that I have been updating this one the most so far. I know this doesn't really make sense because normally O/C stories happen to not be as popular. My explanation for this is that I actually wrote a plot for this. I have writer's block on almost all of my other stories. In other words, my lesson learned here is not to write without at least an outline or plot or else I'm going to get writer's block. **

** I'm working on an update for 'Young Justice: Flying Solo' because I finally thought of a solution. I should have it up by the end of this week at the latest. I just kept complicating the story more and more until I couldn't think of an actual way to escape and take down Joker. The same thing happened with 'Memories of a Robin' but I am going to look at how you fix that kind of amnesia either this week or over the holidays. For 'Birds that Fly' I've been short on one-shot ideas. I went to New York this weekend and I found some ideas. If you have any one-shot requests let me know. The stay-puff Marshmallow Man and ice skating are going to be coming up soon. As for 'Identity Crisis'... I'm at a complete loss. My writer's block is outrageous but I will try to get something done while I'm on break for the holidays. Don't expect an update for that story for a while. So there's info on my other stories.**

* * *

I reached for my utility belt and pulled out a batarang and flung it at the robot. I cussed when it missed but I then had to jump out of the way as its arm flew towards me. I jumped up into the air and punched one of the targets on its chest while Robin worked on the other side of the robot.

After many hours of arguing and negotiating I had FINALLY gotten Bruce to let me be Cardinal. I smiled at the fact that he lost the argument. I'm not allowed on patrol in Gotham yet though. Part of the deal was that I had to train before I was allowed on patrol but it's in progress. I'd mainly been working with the training robot that Batman built and doing sparring with Robin. Batman hadn't actually trained me very much so far.

"Robin, maneuver seven." I ran towards him and he clasped his hands together at a low level so when I stepped on it he gave me a boost into the air. I swiftly landed on the robot and kicked all the targets so the robot shut down.

"Nice job," Robin congratulated. He held his hand up and we high-fived. His gaze shifted and I turned around to see Batman standing right behind me in his costume.

"Would you quit doing that?" I scolded, "You keep coming out of nowhere!" He just glared at me and turned to Robin.

"I have a mission for the team. We need to go to the mountain."

"Ok." Robin said. He looked at me, and then at Batman who was waiting by the zeta tube. It was almost like we could all read each other's minds.

"No" Batman said in a strong tone.

Please Bruce?" I asked. I looked at him with puppy dog eyes and Dick joined me. Batman turned his back to me and Robin to avoid seeing the eyes. Puppy dog eyes were his weakness.

"I'm not responsible if you get hurt," he grunted. I smiled and pulled out my mask. I slipped it on as I joined them in the zeta tube.

There was a small whirling sound as it came on and everything felt windy. It was windy, but it wasn't cold or hot. I couldn't see anything but a blinding yellow light and when it cleared I was standing in Mount Justice.

"Whoa! This place is even bigger in person!" I exclaimed. Just the room with the zeta tubes looked bigger than I had imagined.

"Well, it is a mountain. Come on, let's go find the team." Robin suggested. We headed in some direction; I didn't know where we were going because I only knew what rooms looked like, not my way around them. We headed into the living room where we found the rest of the team.

Megan was reading a cookbook in the kitchen while Kaldur and Superboy were watching TV on the couch. Wally and Artemis were arguing which, to be honest, didn't surprise me. They all looked up when we walked in the room.

"Who's that?" Artemis asked, pausing in her arguing to pull out her bow defensively.

"Chill out Arty!" I exclaimed. Wait- I just said someone who doesn't know me's name again. Oops. Robin gave me a little nudge telling me to shut up.

"This is Al- Cardinal," he said, catching himself before he said my name, "She's also Batman's protégé."

Before I knew it, Wally was standing next to me with a cheesy grin on his face, "May I say that you are the most beautiful girl I've seen all day," he flirted. I looked at Robin and he smirked with an almost indistinct nod, giving me permission to do what I wanted to. I swiftly crouched down and swept Wally's feet out from under him with my leg, causing him to fall flat on his face. Everyone in the room cracked up, and Robin high-fived me.

"Aw, not cool," Wally moaned. He took my gloved hand and I helped him to his feet.

"Sorry kid mouth, that's for flirting with me." I laughed."How do you know all our names?" Superboy inquired. I looked to Robin and he gave me a look that said it was ok as long as I kept it brief.

"I'm from another dimension. I was transported here somehow and once I realized I was in Gotham, I figured that Batman and Robin were my best chance, well, after I figured out they existed. In my dimension you guys are all just comic book characters. This dimension was luckily my favorite so I know a lot about it." Everybody in the room, except for Robin, just stared at me in an awkward silence until Aqualad broke it.

"I must admit that I have never heard of you, Cardinal," Kaldur chimed in.

"No problem, I just started training and Batman won't even let me out on patrol yet. This'll be my first mission."

"We have a mission?" Megan asked excitedly. As if on cue, Batman's voice came over the intercom in the cave, "Report to the mission room for briefing."

I sat down in a chair and looked over at Bruce. I've only been living with Bruce for a month and this is his 5th party already. I had talked to Dick about the parties and he said that they were supposed to be part of the playboy image. Like me, he hated them. Bruce currently had 4 girls flirting with him and he didn't look like he was acting. It surprises me how Bruce and Batman are so different. By day, Bruce is multi-billionaire, bright playboy, and businessman, but at night he's a dark and stealthy figure who is too serious to have any fun.

I looked to my left and saw Dick across the room, a sad look on his face. I stood up to go talk to him but I almost tripped when I started to walk. I was wearing an emerald green dress but it was way too long for my taste and I kept tripping over it. However, I had to wear it because I needed to hide my leg. Today, our mission was against the league of shadows and one of the shadows managed to graze my leg with a knife so it was bandaged and Bruce made me wear the dress.

"Something wrong?" I asked Dick. He only looked at me and frowned before looking back to whatever he was watching. I followed his gaze to see a happy family of three. The mom had brown hair with blue eyes, while the father and the son had hair as black as a starless night and deep blue eyes. I smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You miss them," I said understandingly .The family looked almost exactly like Robin's parents. "At least you know how they died. All I know is that my father was killed, I don't know who or why. The police just found him dead." He finally turned to look at me with a confused look on his face.

"Why haven't you tried looking for clues yet? Robin asked, "You should know enough detective stuff to get some ideas at least,"

"I can't. I have two of my Dad's old journals from right before he died but they've always been too painful to look at. It managed to be in the one bag of stuff that I brought."

"We can look at them together. Let's pull a disappear move and we can go look at them in your room." He offered, finally dropping the subject of the other family. I nodded and walked away. I gave him a thumbs up and casually backed into the shadows before dashing upstairs to my room.

I went to my backpack which I had hidden under my and pulled the journal out of it. As I looked at the cover which had a pictured of my dad I felt tears coming to my eyes. I heard Dick opening my door and I quickly wiped them off my face.

"Do you have the book?" He asked. I replied with a nod and we both sat down on my bed. I sighed before opening it to about a month before he died. I was nervous about this but I wanted to know how he died at some point. Whoever had killed my Dad destroyed my family. When he died, my mom became severely depressed and my older sister isolated herself more and more by the day. I can't remember the last time we had a good laugh as a family. Robin and I exchanged glances before we both started to read.

_March 25th_

_ Today at work, I got a new assignment. I'll be going undercover with one of the biggest gangsters in Adonis City. It's an honor to be chosen for this assignment. When it comes to undercover investigations the Adonis Police Department is very picky when choosing their employees. I am a little worried though. If my cover is blown there may be no hesitation to kill me. I am worried about what will happen to my family if that happens, or worse, if they decide to get to me through my family. I start tomorrow._

_ ~Jason_

"Was your dad a cop." Robin asked. I gave him a small nod. "Well, there's probably why he died. Once when I went undercover my cover got blown and I barely made it out alive," He continued, "Now we just need to figure out who did it."

The next 3 or 4 weeks of journal entries were in the book but we checked them all and none of them had the name. We finally found more clues three days before the murder but there was still no name."

_April 23_

_ I am afraid my cover is in danger. When one of the gangsters killed a man, everyone noticed that I looked shocked. It was only for a split second but people still noticed. I'll be keeping an extra eye out so if anyone is suspicious I can avoid the suspicion._

_ ~Jason_

"So his cover was blown and that's was why he was killed," I said slowly. I tightly closed my eyes to avoid crying and turned the page with shaking hands.

_April 24th_

_ This may be the last time that I write in this booklet. Everyone seemed suspicious today and I think my cover is blown. I don't have much time to write. I have already written a will and I wish for Ally to have this book. I have a feeling that she will find it useful. If Grant Gondy kills me, I want you to know, I love you, Ally. Take care of your mother and sister. Stay safe. Goodbye._

~_Dad_

"Grant Gondy? Isn't that the guy who sent you here?" Dick asked. I nodded in both silence and shock. "I'll give you a minute, meet you downstairs," He said cautiously. He silently left the room, understanding that I needed a minute.

Grant Gondy. My eyes narrowed. This is all his fault. He killed my dad, it was his thugs who killed my sister, and now he took me away from my mother. When I get back, I'll hunt him down. Then, I'll make him wish he was never born.

* * *

**Ooh! Revenge! You can probably guess who's going to come into the story soon! Oh yeah, if you were wondering, her dad being named Jason ****_is _****reference to Jason Todd. Please review and follow! Doing so gives me confidence someone is reading what I'm writing and makes me feel happy. I'll update soon!**


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